The Forbidden
by electric-ice-angel
Summary: The Rescuers Down Under. A search for a giant cryptid spider gets the attention of greedy McLeach; a young girl and Jake get involved in the search. Takes place before the movie. OC.
1. 1

Imagine one's fear of arachnids, snakes, lizards, rodents, bats…

Disclaimer: McLeach, Joanna, and Jake belong to Disney. This is just a little fanfic.

Imagine one's fear of arachnids, snakes, lizards, rodents, bats…. more than ninety percent of the population of the world does indeed have such a fear…and it may be just a little loss of breath upon seeing a eight-legged "critter" crawling across your kitchen floor, or perhaps your blood running cold when you think you hear the distinguishable "squeak" of a mouse, or worse yet, a _rat _running through your walls at home. There are a very small percentage of people in this world that do not even have the tiniest amount of fear of at least some type of creature, be it big or small….

Now imagine the creature that you fear the most, and imagine its size increased by, say fifty percent…. one who has arachnophobia may feel uncomfortable when seeing a tiny brown house spider, and may even get sick at the sight of a tarantula, but what if one was to see a arachnid that's body was, say the size of a van?

In several areas of Australia, there where stories buzzing of such a spider…the stories where going around so much that Australia's most famous cryptids, the Yowie, and the Bunyip, almost seemed to be forgotten momentarily. There seemed to be many caves, and areas this large arachnid had been seen…but expeditions for the creature always turned up nothing.

Some men have claimed to have caught just a glimpse of it; others said they could hear something very large rustling about in a certain cave, others actually said they truly saw the beast, and some described it as being the size of an everyday car, others said the body alone was the size of a large van, while others claimed it was midnight black in color, with yellow markings along it's furry body, and at least one man said it was simply a dull gray color.

With so many variations of the story, it did not take too long for interest in it to wane…

Until one man found one of the creature's legs.

This man was none other that Percival C. McLeach, an American man that had moved to Australia for the sole purpose of poaching. He had found the shocking rarity about ten miles down from the Rumbling Canyons; and figured an animal of sorts, perhaps a vulture had found the severed leg, picked it up, and dropped it, where as luck would have it, he had come across it. A nice little hideaway far out in the Australian desert, in the middle of a field of old mines that nobody would dare go through…a nice little existence for a poacher, with his customized truck and slithery pet goanna by his side.

"Look, Joanna."

The green reptile watched her master intently; not just because he told her to "look", but also because she was genuinely interested in what he was holding above her…was that a snack for Joanna, or a whip of sorts? The poor lizard did not know if to cower, or sit up and beg; and those confused feelings where nothing new. She relaxed a little as he tilted it towards her, but held it gingerly with both of his hands…she knew he would not hold a weapon like that…

"Do you know what this is?" McLeach asked almost gleefully.

The lizard shook her head, and then followed her master's gaze to the make-shift shelf in their "home" where jars of pickled and preserved creatures where. In the middle jar there was a large, fat tarantula, seemingly suspended in time…

Joanna looked back at McLeach, not understanding.

"That's right, Joanna," he turned away from her and to the mantel above the jars, where he had cleared a space, and began to mount the large item…

"It's the leg of that giant spider everybody's gotten themselves so worked up about…and I found it!"

Joanna tilted her head to take a better look at the so-called "spiders" leg hanging on the wall…she was not the smartest of her species, but she did know that spider leg's did not get that big…she _ate _spiders for goodness sakes…and if spiders did get that big, they could actually eat her. She shuddered at the thought.

_WHACK!_

Joanna jumped…McLeach had picked up a fly swatter, and had slammed it down in front of her. He laughed, holding his belly.

"Now this particular spider, Johanna, is not like anything you've ever seen around here…this spider is HUGE. About as big as my truck out there. Nothing you could take care of with a little ol' fly swatter here," he chuckled as he proceeded to go to the wall opposite of the spider leg, and retrieved his rifle from it.

Joanna gulped.

The poacher then held his rifle up over the spider's leg, to show that the leg was even longer than his rifle. He then turned to look at Johanna.

"Come on Joanna, we're going to squash us a very big bug!" He laughed again, as he turned towards the door.

Joanna gulped again, and shook her head…she was not at all interested in going after something with eight legs (or seven now, considering the circumstances.) that was large enough to eat her…especially after all the insects and spiders she had had for snacks.

"Oh, what's the matter? You don't want to go? Are you afraid?" He spoke gently, but Joanna knew better. She was right: his gentle manner changed in an instant, and his foot targeted her side with a kick. She quickly dodged it, and looked up to him pitifully.

"You need to toughen up, Joanna…one of these days I may just trade you in for a croc." McLeach remarked under his breath.

Joanna sighed, as only a reptile like her could, and proceeded to follow her master out the door, to where the hot Australian sun met them.


	2. 2

However, McLeach was not the only one out looking for the monstrous spider that same day

However, McLeach was not the only one out looking for the monstrous spider that day.

Just as McLeach and Johanna where heading out on their own journey;

A team of cryptozoologists had been actively searching for the spider already for hours. "The Team Leader" of sorts was a tall, dark man, who had a very nervous habit of lighting cigarettes and then putting them out only after a few puffs; he was a man who checked the torn map in his hands constantly, then refolded it to put it back into his dirty shirt pocket, only to take it out again so it could be rechecked. He was the type of man who abused his workers, cursing at them, and even kicking them if they would not speak fast enough for him, or if they forgot to address him as "Doctor." This man was having his workers, a team of seven men in all; go through an exceedingly dark cave that was once used as a dingo's den…why the dingoes had suddenly abandoned it mystified him. He knew there had to be a reason, and that reason may have been the arachnid.

One lanky man appeared out of the cave, filthy and breathing hard.

"Dr. Orebs, there is nothing down there. This was our third check today…" the lanky man spit a little dirt out of his mouth as he spoke, and then began to choke.

Dr. Orebs frowned at him, and the choking man cringed, but was relieved to see the Doctor making no advances towards him. He swallowed, and then pointed back towards the cave's entrance.

"If the spider was seen in here once, then it has moved on…our equipment is getting wet, Doctor. We really should pull out, and maybe try somewhere else for the day."

"Maybe so…but I just have this feeling…spider's are not known to move around to different places…but let's ask the girl."

There was the slightest stir across the way in the brush, but neither man took any notice of it, and if they had, the sight of a kangaroo rat peering out at them would not catch their interest anyways. An everyday critter of the outback was nothing compared to some of the creatures they had seen in their lifetime, including the Yowie, gargantuan snakes, and several strange creatures yet to be named.

"Blimey," Jake whispered as he watched the Doctor make his way to his truck, which was parked, adjacent to the cave.

"If these here jokers think they're gonna find a 'giant spider', they must be cold out of ere' minds. There is nothing like that out here." Jake shook his head, and continued to keep his eyes on the Doctor.

The back of the truck was opened, and the large man reached in, and pulled something-or someone out of it. Jake squinted, and saw it was a young woman, her wrists where bound by rope, and her face half covered by a large kerchief tied over her mouth. She looked up at Dr.Orebs, frightened, as he untied the kerchief. She gasped for breath. Next, he untied her wrists, and she immediately sat on the ground as if exhausted, and began to rub at her chafed wrists.

"I thought it may be time for a little fresh air." He said as he stood over her.

The girl looked about at her surroundings, at the trees rising above her, the blue sky…

"Does this place look familiar?" he asked.

"Kind of," she answered softly.

Dr. Orebs growled impatiently, and then pulled out several old Polaroid's from his pocket. The girl straightened up upon seeing them.

"Is this place…that cave…" he pointed behind him, "Where your father had taken these pictures?"

Jake watched this whole scene intently, and decided to get a closer look. He managed to hop across the way, to get closer to the girl, and to see the pictures. Nobody took notice of him, and the kangaroo rat managed to lightly climb up the back of the girl's light blue tank top…he was an expert at going undetected.

The girl reached her hand out, to look at the photographs closer. Jake was able to get a good look at them, as well…they where poloroids of what seemed to be a giant spider. Now Jake was very much a tough guy in all aspects, and having seen a lot of things in the Outback, but upon seeing the photos of this giant tarantula, or whatever it was, Jake's entire body went cold. From what he could see of the photos, the creature looked very much real, not a fake or a toy…it looked like a living, breathing creature…its many eyes shone from the flash that the camera must have had, and its fangs looked wet…but the thing that convinced Jake was that in one photo, a man stood a little ways in front of it, and the spider was more than twice the size of the man.

"I-I told you, it's hard to say…all caves look alike to me…it was so long ago when he took these pictures anyways…"

A short man from the expedition had come up to them, seemingly worried about interrupting their conversation, but also seeming like he had something urgent to tell.

"Please, sir…Dr. Orebs…can't you please just let me go? I won't tell anyone what's happened to me, I just want to be free…I don't really understand why you need me here in the first place." The girl seemed to want to stand up, but thought again upon seeing the Doctor's glare.

"But you don't understand, my dear…your father had something very special…a gift, if you will…he was able to get this close to the spider," the Doctor pointed at one of the poloroids.

The girl sighed. "No, he did not…of course I'm sure you know that my father was very special to me, but I can assure you that he just got lucky when it came to this…spider, or whatever it is…and please, don't think that I would ever be able to do the same thing…"

"That's where you're wrong…I know your father was able to communicate with it." He pointed to the poloroids again.

'The proof is in the Jell-o, or however that saying goes."

The girl just looked at him that time, not knowing what to say. What Jake had thought before, he was certain now it was true: This "Doctor" was insane. He then noticed the short man standing behind Dr. Orebs.

"Um, excuse me?" He said meekly.

The Doctor spun around, and took a cigarette out of his shirt pocket.

"Yes?"

"Um-we found something…I mean, it's really dark down there but when we emerged, we had…"

The cigarette fell out of the Doctor's mouth when he finally noticed his man…he was covered in giant spider webs.


	3. Chapter 3

It only took the Doctor a moment to bind the girl up again; he left her on the ground where she had been sitting, and he was o

It only took the Doctor a moment to bind the girl up again; he left her on the ground where she had been sitting, and he was off with his men, to the cave. His excitement was indescribable; giant spider webs surely equaled a giant spider.

The girl was now left alone, and she began to struggle against her ropes before Jake could think.

"Hey," he said almost in a hush tone as he jumped down from her. She did not seem to notice. Jake knew there were some people that could communicate better with animals; and even talk with them, but she seemed to not be one of them. Shrugging, he began to gnaw at one of the ropes that bound her; it was difficult as she was moving around, trying to free herself as well. It did not take long to free her feet; and then Jake jumped up too her arms to try with the wrists…

"_I just hope she's not one of those that's afraid of rodents," _Jake thought. The last thing he needed was the girl getting frantic when he was trying to help her. Suddenly, she was still…she had seen Jake. He was motionless for a moment, and when he saw that she did not indeed panic; he began to gnaw on the rope's about her wrists. She seemed to hold her breath as she watched him working on the ropes, and momentarily looked back and forth to the cave's entrance, on look out for the men.

It did not take long; Jake's sharp teeth cut through the final strands of the rope in no time: she was free.

Jake jumped out of the way to let the girl up. She at once ran to the men's truck, where the back was still open. She reached in, and grabbed her backpack, took one last look towards the cave, and began to run off. Under normal circumstances, she would have wanted to stay and investigate this extraordinary critter that seemed to know somehow, that she was in trouble. But she knew she had to hurry before the men came back, so she counted her blessings.

"Thank you," she called out to the kangaroo rat that had helped set her free, not knowing if he understood her or not.

He did.

It was getting to be late afternoon when McLeach finally stopped his truck. Joanna wondered why they where stopping in the middle of seemingly nowhere, but she also knew that her master knew his way around. She was also hoping it was time for lunch, as she was getting to be very hungry. She whimpered a little as she looked up to McLeach; sometimes he forgot to feed her, and needed reminders.

"Here's about where I first found the leg," he remarked to himself, as he got out from his side of the truck, and walked over to the path. He took no notice of Joanna at his side.

"That means that spider could not be too far from here…" he rubbed his chin, and looked about him at the vast wilderness.

Joanna's stomach grumbled, and she realized she might have to find food for herself.

"Hmmm." Remarked McLeach, still ignoring his goanna.

There was a steady chirp and humming of the different Outback creatures as McLeach surveyed the scene…sounds of birds and insects where a background noise that he was use too…but then, a distant splash made him perk up his ears: there was an animal of sorts down at the creek.

He hoisted his rifle up, over his shoulder.

"Well, come on, Joanna…let's see what we got down there."

Joanna was more than happy to oblige, as this could mean the end of her hunger problem, and the two at once headed down to the creek, with Joanna following her master with the enthusiasm of a puppy dog.


End file.
